Batman's Vigilante Enemy
by Windrises
Summary: The Scarecrow tries to become Gotham's new vigilante, but Batman and Joker aren't okay with that.


Note: Batman is owned by DC Comics and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Batman was in the Batcave, trying to do research. The Scarecrow had broken out of Arkham Asylum, so Batman was trying to find out where he was. He had checked the Scarecrow's usual hiding spots, but he hadn't gotten a trace of him. He whispered, "What's your scheme this time?"

Alfred Pennyworth walked up to him. Since Batman was in the Batcave, he couldn't see the Bat Signal. Alfred often came by and would tell him, when the signal was in the sky. He said, "Sir, Commissioner Gordon's waiting for you."

Batman replied, "Then I'll come. Maybe he knows where the Scarecrow is." He went into the Batmobile and started driving to the police station.

A few minutes later, Batman arrived on the police station's rooftop. He stepped out of the shadows and asked Commissioner Gordon, "Have you heard anything about the Scarecrow?"

Commissioner Gordon said, "Actually, I have news about a different villain."

Batman said, "Excuse me?"

Commissioner Gordon explained, "The Riddler broke out of Arkham Asylum, for the sixty sixth time. Is there any chance he's working with Scarecrow?"

Batman replied, "I doubt that. Scarecrow's obsessed with scaring people and Riddler likes being a wiseguy. They have different goals, but they're both evil and I'll have to catch both of them."

Detective Bullock walked by and said, "I don't think so."

Batman sighed and asked, "What do you want?"

Detective Bullock replied, "I want you to turn in your badge."

Batman responded, "I don't have a badge."

Detective Bullock said, "You're not good enough at your job. Gotham needs heroic, hardworking, normal heroes. In other words, me." Batman shook his head and left.

Batman started driving around Gotham, while searching for the Scarecrow and Riddler. He thought about what Detective Bullock was trying to say. He didn't trust Batman, because he's a vigilante. However, Batman believed in his own policies and he truly hoped he was the positive difference Gotham needed. He looked around and saw the Riddler, running with bags of money. He got out of the Batmobile and ran up to him.

The Riddler turned around and saw Batman. He said, "Riddle me this: Who is obsessed with bringing order, despite being batty?" The Riddler started chuckling, but Batman walked closer to him. The Riddler started running away. He had become super skinny and had done lots of working out, so he was starting to outrun Batman.

While doing some chaotic running, the Riddler bumped into the Scarecrow. The Riddler waved to him and said, "Hi dude. It's actually kind of nice to see you. Much better than dealing with Batman."

The Scarecrow pulled a jar out of his jacket, while saying, "I assure you, that I'm not a nice sight."

The Riddler smirked and replied, "You're not exactly a supermodel, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

The Scarecrow responded, "Instead of being hard on myself, I'm going to be hard on you." He opened the jar and started spraying a mysterious chemical, at the Riddler.

The Riddler nervously asked, "What did you spray on me?"

The Scarecrow answered, "Fear itself." The Riddler looked at the Scarecrow and saw one of his biggest fears: all of the world's riddles evaporating.

The Riddler nervously replied, "My riddles, they're disappearing. If all of the world's riddles go away, I'll be nothing."

The Scarecrow asked, "That's your fear? Truly pathetic."

Batman caught up to the Riddler. He saw the prince of puzzlers, panicking over his lost riddles. He also the Scarecrow, so he walked up to him and asked, "What's going on?"

The Scarecrow explained, "I defeated riddle boy."

Batman asked, "Why? Do you want to give riddles to crows or something?"

The Scarecrow shook his head and said, "You've guessed wrong Batman, which Riddler would be ashamed of. I'm becoming Gotham's new vigilante. With my fear gas, I'm able to defeat any and all of the city's criminals."

Batman sternly stared at the Scarecrow and was trying to figure out what his scheme was. He asked, "You're going to fight criminals?"

The Scarecrow answered, Indeed I do. I'm going to use my fear gas, but this time, for Gotham's benefit."

Batman angrily stared at the Scarecrow, knowing the master of fear never had an interest in benefiting the city. He said, "You were a Professor. You might of cared about teaching the future, but I know your true goals. You want to spread fear, to as many people as possible. This time, you think you can get away with it, because you're using the fear gas on criminals."

The Scarecrow had a smug smile on his face, while saying, "That's an admirable enough goal. After all, I'm defeating the forces of evil."

Batman replied, "Criminals deserve to face justice, maybe even vengeance, but I don't approve of your methods."

The Scarecrow asked, "Are you implying my methods are too cruel?"

Batman grabbed him and said, "You're using fear to emotionally damage them."

The Scarecrow replied, "That's what you do. You use fear to scare the bad guys. You know that criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, so you use the image of a bat to scare them."

Batman responded, "Yes, but my method of scaring criminals is okay. I can't approve of your methods."

The Scarecrow replied, "You're taking the law into your own hands, aren't you? Despite that, you mock me for trying to be a vigilante. Has hypocrisy become one of your superpowers?"

Batman sternly responded, "Give up this vigilante act."

The Scarecrow had an amused look on his face, while asking, "Instead of stopping criminals, you want me to give it all up and continue my criminal ways?"

Batman punched the Scarecrow and said, "I don't want you to keep being a criminal, but I want you to go back to Arkham Asylum."

The Scarecrow tried to speak in a dignified tone, while saying, "You interrupted my crime-fighting crusade. Because of that, I think I've earned the right to give you a special punishment." He grabbed his jar and sprayed fear gas at Batman. He knew Batman could handle the fear gas, but it would be enough to distract him, while he ran away.

Batman drove back to the Batcave. He walked around the cave, while wondering what to do about the Scarecrow. A memory popped in his head: Batman had made an antidote for Scarecrow's fear toxin. However, the fear toxin Scarecrow was using seemed to be something new, so Batman was unaware of how much impact it would make. He put it in his utility belt, to be safe.

The next night, Two-Face was robbing a bank. However, the Scarecrow burst in. Two-Face stared at him, confused about why he was there. He was hoping Scarecrow wasn't planning on robbing the same bank. If that was the case, he would let his coin decide the Scarecrow's fate. He said, "Why are you, scare boy?"

The Scarecrow pointed to him and replied, "You are a corrupt criminal. That's why you have to face my vigilante justice."

Two-Face had a confused look on his face, while asking, "Vigilante justice? You've become crazier, which is why your fate is sealed." He flipped his coin and it landed on tails, so he pointed a weapon at the Scarecrow and said, "I'm going to bring you down."

The Scarecrow had a smug look on his face, while replying, "I don't think so." He sprayed fear gas at Two-Face. Suddenly, Two-Face was dealing with one of his greatest fears: Not having a single coin! Without his coin, he felt undecided about most things. He laid on the ground, feeling defeated.

A half hour later, Batman and the police arrived. The Scarecrow boastfully said, "I'm the one who defeated Two-Face, not Batman."

Batman angrily replied, "Although you did defeat the bad guys, you're still corrupt and need to be taken back to the asylum."

Detective Bullock bonked Batman on the head and responded, "Hold on there, Batman. You dislike Scarecrow, despite you fighting criminals in the same way."

Batman asked, "Same way? Come on, Bullock. You can't be so easily tricked."

Detective Bullock replied, "Scarecrow is about as helpful as you are. In other words, I barely trust either of you."

The Scarecrow tapped Batman's shoulder and said, "It appears we have the same amount of approval, when it comes to the police."

Batman replied, "That was just Bullock's opinion and his opinion hardly matters. It's Commissioner Gordon who calls the shots."

The Scarecrow pointed to Batman and said, "Ah, you're a pushover, after all."

Batman angrily replied, "Excuse me?"

The Scarecrow responded, "You claim to be the rough, dangerous vigilante Gotham needs, but even you seek the approval of Gordon. You're a sell-out, just like all of Gotham. That's why I'm the vigilante Gotham truly needs." He ran away.

An hour later, the Joker was in his hideout and was watching the news. He saw a news report about the Scarecrow defeating Two-Face. He stared at the TV, with an angry expression on his face. He asked, "What's going on with scare boy? He's supposed to be a secondary criminal, not a vigilante. He's trying to be like Batman, which means he's going to come looking for a certain clown prince of crime." He did an evil laugh, while saying, "Then I'll get rid of that Scarecrow. Only Batman is allowed to bring me down. This fool isn't going to take away Batman's spotlight, also known as the Bat Signal. Could you imagine having a scarecrow signal?" He paused and said, "Cringeworthy thought."

The next morning, Joker broke into a museum. He looked at a centuries old painting. He tapped the curator's shoulder and asked, "Is that old painting worth anything?"

The curator nervously said, "It's worth a few million dollars."

The Joker grabbed the painting and broke it in half. He handed the painting to the curator and said, "It's only worth two dollars, at this point. Take that to your nearest Goodwill." He did a crazy sounding laugh.

The Scarecrow appeared in the museum. He was excited to fight the Joker, because he thought bringing down Batman's arch-enemy would make him more respected, than ever before. He said, "Greetings, clown prince of crime."

Joker replied, "Greetings, master of scaring crows away. Shouldn't you be guarding Farmer Brown's farm, instead of scaring up random criminals?"

The Scarecrow pointed to him and responded, "You're the only one who does random things. That's why I have to bring you down." He got out the jar and was about to spray fear gas at him. The Joker sprayed some laughing gas at him. The Scarecrow tried to not get nervous, while asking, "What are you doing?"

The Joker had an evil smile on his face, while asking, "Do you think you can take away Batman's position? He's Gotham's crimefighter and he's a lot more exciting than you."

The Scarecrow replied, "Crimefighting is about getting the job done, not being entertaining or unique."

The Joker responded, "Nah, style is important." He sprayed tons of fear gas at the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow burst into laughter.

Batman burst into the museum and saw the Joker and the Scarecrow laughing. Batman realized the Scarecrow was dealing with the Joker's laughing gas. Batman had a material in his utility belt that made him not be affected by the laughing gas. Because of that, he was able to easily beat up the Joker and handcuff him. The Joker was hardly concerned about that, because he accomplished his goal of making sure Batman was Gotham's main crimefighter.

Batman walked up to the Scarecrow and said, "You messed up and you can't be Gotham's hero."

The Scarecrow laughed while saying, "I sure messed up." Batman handcuffed the Scarecrow, while wondering if there was a part of Scarecrow that wanted to be a hero. Even though the Scarecrow failed at that, Batman will always be around to protect Gotham.


End file.
